Maximum resolution, how do I discover it ?

[Hecatombles]

Hello, I have 2 capture cards: Pinnacle MediaCenter 300i and Pixelview LifeView Pro (based on BT8x8 chipsed).

I need an utility to discover the maximum capture resolution supported by both boards. VirtualDUB 1.6.3 give me an error for resolutions above 320x240 for the Pinnacle board and 720x288 for the pixelview board. I think that the resolution should be greater than this but I have no way to discover the right values.

Thanks

[Arachnotron]

That is a vdub limitation. Try virtualvcr or any other capturing program.

[Hecatombles]

I have tried Windows Movie Maker with the same result.

Hecatombles

[fccHandler]

Originally posted by Arachnotron
That is a vdub limitation. Try virtualvcr or any other capturing program.
Huh? There's no such limitation in VirtualDub. I use it to capture 720 x 480 NTSC all the time. Even with WDM wrapper I never had a problem. It's almost certainly a hardware or driver issue.

[Arachnotron]

ok, to elaborate: vdub (in it's current stable version at least) is vfw based. To use it with wdm drivers, as you have in w2k and winxp, a wrapper is needed which is included if you have the latest service packs/directX in place.
Unfortunately, many drivers have problems with this wrapper, resulting in either not being able to capture at all or only being able to capture at a reduced resolution. If it works for you, fine. If not, try a directshow based capture app like virtualVCR or AMCAP first to see if your system is ok in general. Only when you are sure you can capture full res with either of these, attempt to troubleshoot vdub. And even then, you may never get it to work.

Most of this stuff is in the various vdub and capture faq'a by the way.

A last remark: the capture part of vdub is being upgraded, so this limitation does not hold for the 1.6 series currently under development.

[fccHandler]

Originally posted by Arachnotron
Unfortunately, many drivers have problems with this wrapper, resulting in either not being able to capture at all or only being able to capture at a reduced resolution.
Well, the driver I'm using is btwincap (http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/) on Windows XP. Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never had those problems with VirtualDub 1.5.10 (VfW) or 1.6.3 (WDM). Since Hecatombles' card is also a BT878, I suggest trying btwincap.

Oh, and thanks Arachno for elaborating. ;)

[Hecatombles]

Originally posted by fccHandler
Well, the driver I'm using is btwincap (http://btwincap.sourceforge.net/) on Windows XP. Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never had those problems with VirtualDub 1.5.10 (VfW) or 1.6.3 (WDM). Since Hecatombles' card is also a BT878, I suggest trying btwincap.

Oh, and thanks Arachno for elaborating. ;)

I am already using BTWincap drivers but I can't set the source format above 720x288. I am using VDUB 1.6.3 and latest BTWincap


Hecatombles

[fccHandler]

Have you tried to change resolution using the "Video / Set custom format" dialog? Maybe that will work. Otherwise I don't really know how to help you. My card is a BT878A and I never got that error. I can't understand why yours would behave differently with the same driver...

BTW, VirtualDub 1.6.4 (http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/) was released today.

[Arachnotron]

In vdub 1.6.3, when you are in capture mode, which device is selected under the Device menu option? It should be
<insert card or driver name here> (Directshow),
not one of the other options with (VFW) after them.

[joe355]

I have the same problem in virtualdub with my SAA7134 (won't capture with a vertical resoultion above 288). VirtualVCR works fine, so maybe it's because directshow support in vdub 1.6.x is still experimental.

[ppera2]

I recommend that everyone with similar problem try out Virtual Dub 1.6.4 . It's still experimental, but with my Pinnacle Pro (BT878 based) card I can now capture in any resolution. Not via WDM, but with some Directshow System, see available capture drivers at device selection. It works with standard Pinnacle drivers, and I don't recommend to install BT Wincap drivers because they can cause some big problems, plus color handling is buggy.

Of course some programs like Virtual VCR handled all resolutions well already (It's WDM based), but:

Virtual Dub is far the best capture programm for PC. No other program offers so many options and features. New version has improved A/V sync - after several hours and signal cuts it still had rockstable A/V sync.
Setting it to work well is probably not easy, especially for inexperienced people. I hope that user interface will be much better and more user friendly in oncoming versions.

BT8x8 card users have still possibility to use BT tweaker...

[Arachnotron]

I can confirm that my SAA7134 works with vdub 1.6.4 capping full res. :)